Melbourne Cup winning trainer Darren Weir will field his biggest team of the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival at Doomben on Saturday as he looks to bridge the gap on UBET Super Six Trainers’ Challenge leader Chris Waller.
The Victorian based trainer has only had two runners so far in this year’s QLD Winter Racing Carnival but has already picked up valuable points in the Super Six Trainers’ Challenge to sit in seventh place on the overall standings after the impressive win of Real Love at Doomben a fortnight ago in track record time.
Real Love will again line-up as a short-priced favourite in Saturday’s Group 3 Premier’s Cup (2200m) and Weir’s Super Six claims will be further boosted by the presence of the in-form Howard Be Thy Name ($4.60), who has won five of his last six races, and dual Group 2 winner La Passe ($12).
While Weir concedes Waller will be hard to topple overall in the Super Six Trainers’ Challenge, he hoped he would be in the firing line for the daily winner’s prize of a $10,000 QTIS voucher on Saturday.
“I’m happy with Real Love and Howard Be Thy Name,’’ said Weir, who has been installed as a $15 chance with UBET to claim Week 3 honours in the UBET Super Six Trainers’ Challenge.
“If they run well on Saturday, we might be some chance of picking up the daily prize.”
Weir said his team for the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival team would be enhanced by the arrival of several other runners next week including Stradbroke Handicap second favourite Black Heart Bart ($6).
“This is the best team I’ve had and probably the best horses I’ve brought up to Queensland,” said Weir.
“I haven’t had the numbers in the past but this time we’ve got the numbers and a bit more depth to our stable.”
Leading trainer Chris Waller leads the series overall on 55 points ahead of Peter and Paul Snowden on 45 and John O’Shea on 35.
As the overall leader, each of Chris Waller’s runners entered for this Saturday’s Black Type races at Doomben will don gold saddlecloths and handler vests.
The overall leaderboard after Week 2 of the UBET Super Six Trainers’ Challenge is listed below:
| Placing | Trainer | Points |
| 1 | Chris Waller | 55 |
| 2 | Peter & Paul Snowden | 45 |
| 3 | John O’Shea | 35 |
| 4 | Lee & Anthony Freedman | 30 |
| 5 | Bjorn Baker | 25 |
| 6 | Matthew Dunn | 20 |
| 7 | Darren Weir | 15 |
| 8 | David Vandyke | 15 |
| 9 | Gary Portelli | 15 |
| 10 | Matthew Smith | 15 |
| 11 | Helen Page | 12.5 |
| 12 | Michael Nolan | 12.5 |
| 13 | Chris Munce | 10 |
| 14 | Desleigh Forster | 10 |
| 15 | Gary Moore | 10 |
| 16 | Michael Moroney | 10 |
| 17 | Robert Heathcote | 5 |
| 18 | Tony Gollan | 5 |
| 19 | Jim Jarvis | 5 |
| 20 | Todd Wilan | 5 |
| 21 | Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes | 5 |
The full list of UBET Super Six Trainers’ Challenge betting markets can be found here.
For full details on the UBET Super Six Trainers’ Challenge, go here.
The UBET Super Six Trainers’ Challenge is a joint initiative between Racing Queensland, UBET, the Brisbane Racing Club and Tattersall’s Racing Club.
Points for the UBET Super Six Trainers’ Challenge will be allocated on a 15, 10 and 5 basis for the first three placegetters over the line in each of the 41 Group and Listed races to be contested throughout the six Group 1 race meetings from May 14 – June 25.
The trainer that accumulates the most points on each of the “Super Six” days will receive a $10,000 QTIS Cash voucher, which doubles to $20,000 on the final day of the Challenge for Tattersall’s Tiara raceday.
The winning trainer will have the enviable choice of a $140,000 BMW X6 courtesy of Brisbane BMW or an exclusive VIP trip to the 2017 Kentucky Derby for the trainer and six owners.
UBET SUPER SIX TRAINERS RACE DAYS
DAY 1: Doomben 14 May BTC Cup (G1) + 4 Black Type events
DAY 2: Doomben 21 May Doomben Cup (G1) + 6 Black Type events
DAY 3: Doomben 28 May Doomben 10,000 (G1) + 6 Black Type events
DAY 4: Eagle Farm 4 June Queensland Oaks (G1) + 7 Black Type events
DAY 5: Eagle Farm 11 June Stradbroke Hcp (G1), QLD Derby (G1), J.J.Atkins (G1) + 6 Black Type events
DAY 6: Eagle Farm 25 June Tattersall’s Tiara (G1) + 4 Black Type events
UBET SUPER SIX POINTS ALLOCATION DAYS 1-5
1st placing = 15 points
2nd placing = 10 points
3rd placing = 5 points
UBET SUPER SIX POINTS ALLOCATION DAY 6 (Tattersall’s Tiara Day)
1st placing = 30 points
2nd placing = 20 points
3rd placing = 10 points
